To become a bilingual, if not a multilingual o polyglot person, we must lose ourselves not only to the new language that we are learning, but to the identity and to the vision of the world that this language represents.
In fact, learning a language only because we need it as a tool to communicate (maybe because of our job, or because we like travelling, or for any other practical reason) just isn’t enough if we want to unlock what I call the “bilingual superpower”.
First of all, we have to clarify what being bilingual means.
Indeed, it doesn’t necessarily mean having two passports, or, you know, parents that speak different languages so that we’ve learnt both of them from day one. As a matter of fact, being a bilingual person means to be able to express our thoughts fluently – and just as effectively – in two languages, both in oral and in written form. And this just doesn’t happen if we don’t embrace the culture and the identity that lie behind that language – some may say they are in fact the same thing.
Now, concerning English I must admit that things are a little more complicated than they should. This is because English has become the world’s”lingua franca”, the language that we resort to when the other person comes from another country whose language is unknown to us.
1,35 billion people speak English either as a native language or as a second language today, with native speakers being only (approximately) one third of the total speakers of English in the world.
Amazing, isn’t it?
I will dedicate a whole blog post to English as a Lingua Franca and the features of International Englishes, as linguists call them.
So for the time being, let’s just say that when learning English, the identity and culture (which could be British, North American, Australian etc.) that go with it are constantly influenced by everyone else’s, due to its widespread use, and this is (sort of) the price to pay for becoming the most widely-spoken language in the world.
A lot of people I know prefer British English, many others American English. Hence, they all try to mimic the accent and expressions used in those countries, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I personally have a British (English) accent, but when I spend a lot of time with my American colleagues I find myself picking up their expressions and some pronunciation features like intonation, for example. So as you can see it’s all very personal!
When I speak the languages I’ve studied and that I can use in conversation, people say that I change my voice, my posture, even my sense of humour!
And I am no alien.
This is literally what happens every time you stop fearing the language you’re studying and you start loving it, to the point where you are ready to give yourself up (in a good way!) to this new companion that you’ve come to love so much.
It’s like being in a relationship: how long can a relationship last if two people don’t love each other? – at least in countries where we usually marry for love. And even if it lasts, will the people be happy in it?
Learning languages is becoming richer, mentally more flexible, more curious and open-minded, better at memorising information, more talkative and confident – as we know that we can now communicate with more people than we could before.
Bilinguals, polyglots, hyper-polyglots… Are they supernatural human beings? No, they aren’t.
Unless they speak more than one language by birth, so they just happen to be, people who are fluent and speak naturally and beautifully in more than one language do so because they weren’t afraid to change their soul. Or, even better, to gain new ones.
The moment you will stop seeing English (or any other language you’re studying) as a mere tool and as something that you “have to learn” and you’ll start seeing it as a powerful source of personal improvement and a friend you can call on when you’re in need, that will be the moment in which you make your first step towards becoming a bilingual, or even a polyglot.
Happy language learning!
Take care
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